This week on the NBC Renew/Cancel, I take a look at Saturday Night Live's future amidst its big 50th anniversary celebrations, and also upgrade one long-overlooked veteran that's remained a consistent hit.
Certain Cancellation:
Brilliant Minds (0.23, 0.17-0.29)
The Irrational (0.18, 0.10-0.31)
Leans Cancellation:
Found (0.22, 0.18-0.29)
Leans Renewal:
N/A
Likely Renewal:
Law & Order (0.30, 0.25-0.36)
Certain Renewal:
Chicago Fire (0.40, 0.35-0.48)
Chicago Med (0.41, 0.33-0.48)
Chicago PD (0.36, 0.30-0.48)
Law & Order: SVU (0.37, 0.29-0.49)
Saturday Night Live (0.88, 0.55-2.17)
Yet to Premiere:
Grosse Pointe Garden Society
Suits: LA
Renewed:
Happy's Place
St. Denis Medical
Saturday Night Live: This week, Saturday Night Live celebrated 50 years on the air with a double (and then some)-length primetime episode, featuring the returns of many of the greats from the series' fifty-year run. It was a heavily-hyped event, with NBC and Peacock airing a four-part documentary series, a three-hour documentary about the series' memorable music moments, and a three-hour concert featuring former musical guests and cast members in the months preceding it. While the show is already a ratings powerhouse, rating as TV's #1 non-sports series this season, that hype paid off, pushing the 50th anniversary special to a giant 2.17 rating. It's hard to imagine any other series on TV drawing such a high rating for any individual episode, regardless of how special it was. The 40th anniversary special in 2015 managed a 7.8 rating, back when the league average was a much higher 1.68. While the 2.17 for the 50th anniversary may seem small in comparison, it drew 678% of the league average (which is 0.32 this season), while the 40th anniversary drew 464% of that season's league average. SNL is a cultural institution in and of itself, unrivaled by any other show on TV. What began as an ambitious, scrappy sketch comedy show starring young comedic talents has become a well-oiled machine, helmed by Lorne Michaels for nearly its entire run. While the 50th anniversary special felt like the end of an era in a way, with many of the show's legends potentially making their final appearances on the series, it certainly did not mark the end of SNL. Saturday Night Live is eternal, and it remains a CERTAIN RENEWAL.
Chicago Med: One show that's fallen into the background as the season has gone on is Chicago Med. The long-running medical drama got off to a fairly rough start by its own standards with a 0.33 in the demo, but things have gotten a lot better. It hasn't gone that low since, and has risen to a strong 0.41 average. Linear ratings weren't the main reason for the show being given the weakest prediction of the Chicago trio, though. It's the weakest performer on streaming of the three, and the only one without a syndication deal, while Chicago PD is heavily repeated on cable and Chicago Fire is also syndicated. NBC doesn't make as much from Med as the other shows, and it's not as much of a draw overall as those two. Still, it will be back. The linear ratings are so strong, and it is still one of the better performers on streaming out of NBC's current offerings. I did think that with NBC cutting back on programming next season, Chicago Med could be a surprise cancellation if they were looking to cut back on another franchise night (a la Organized Crime), but NBC's non-Dick Wolf dramas are all such ratings disasters that I can't envision them even considering it at this point. I do think it will be the first of this trio to end, but I think we're still a few years off from that happening. Considering its strong ratings and the reliable performance of this Chicago block, it's a CERTAIN RENEWAL.
Interactive Schedule:
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | The Voice | The Hunting Party | ||||
| Tues | St. Denis Medical | Night Court | Deal or No Deal Island | The Irrational | ||
| Wed | Chicago Med | Chicago Fire | Chicago PD | |||
| Thurs | Law & Order | Law & Order: SVU | Found | |||
| Fri | Happy's Place | Lopez vs Lopez | Dateline NBC | |||
What do you think of my predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!
